50 Years of Yachting Passion

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Top 5 posts of the year

We’re celebrating the one year anniversary of launching this blog by calling out the top 5 posts of the year. And the cool thing we’ve discovered by going back and seeing what the most popular posts were is that we have readers (and contributors) from all over the world. In fact, our most popular post included a video that Alvaro Bermudez, one of our South American Dealers, shot during an offshore passage on a Dufour 410.

All Dufour Yachts are built in our facility in La Rochelle, France and our “How-the-boats-are built” series was a big hit. These stories show how all Dufours combine fine hand craftsmanship with innovative high-tech construction techniques. And this is how we do it.

Dufour Yachts was born when Michel Dufour was working at a factory that manufactured parts for locomotives near La Rochelle, France in 1964. At the time, he was in charge of the workshop that fabricated parts out of a new and revolutionary material—fiberglass. The factory was building parts that were used on the front of trains as well as for door and window frames. But since Dufour was also a passionate and successful racing sailor, it didn’t take long for him to realize that fiberglass could be the ideal building material for boats.

It’s obvious to see that you get a sexy, well-built hull, and a spacious and finely crafted interior, when you buy a Dufour, but it’s also important to note that we take just as much pride in how our boats look and perform below the waterline as they do above. And nothing makes a bigger impact on both speed and stability underway than the keel.

The Dufour 560 and many other Dufour models have several features that similar sized performance cruisers just don’t have. And as you can see in the photo above, the enormous cockpit of the 560 that doubles as super-stylish portable sun deck at anchor is just one of them.

But what really sets Dufour’s apart is the ingenious built-in cockpit “galley” that’s integrated into the stern area of the 560 and other models. Hot and cold pressure water is available in the sink, the cook top is big enough to cook a gourmet meal, and there’s counter space and storage space too. Why would you ever want to cook anywhere else?